HARMAN Professional Audio System Boosts Serbia's Concert of the Year

NOVI SAD, Serbia – When the NS Koncert Godine 2011 (Serbia's NS Concert of the Year) took place recently, local HARMAN Professional distributor Studio Berar fielded premium products from the Group brand portfolios to ensure that the near-capacity 9,500-person crowd who assembled in the Great Hall of the Sport & Business Centre Vojvodina (aka SPENS) in Novi Sad were treated to a memorable audio experience.

Since this is the largest centre of its kind in the Balkans—and the event hosted all the year's best bands in a 9-hour back-to-back show—Studio Berar needed to draw on all of its 28 years' experience, which in the case of NS Koncert Godine dates back to 1993.

Working with production managers Momcilo Berar and Emil Berar, the service company took responsibility for the entire technical realization, including stage, rigging and lighting, as well as the sound.

For the main PA system, Studio Berar rigged 20 HARMAN's JBL VERTEC® VT4889 fullsize line array elements (10 per side), with eight VT4880 fullsize arrayable subwoofers on each flank covering the main auditorium and giant balconies. Twelve further VT4889's provided outfill coverage, with a pair of VT4888 midsize line array elements assigned for infill duties.

The entire system was set up and optimized using HARMAN Professional's HiQnet System Architectâ„¢ 3.0, with system management under dbx DriveRack 4800 control.

Other processing was also drawn exclusively from the HARMAN catalogue and included dbx IEQ 31 graphic EQ, Lexicon PCM 91 and PCM 96 reverbs, BSS DPR-402 and DPR-404 compressor/de-essers and DPR-504 gate. This was all reinforced with JBL powered VP7212 loudspeakers.

Studio Berar also took the opportunity to field its two Soundcraft Vi6â„¢ digital consoles in the FOH and monitor positions—both configured with stage box and local racks. In addition a Soundcraft MH2 analogue desk was deployed for the second stage.

The highlight of the event, according to Studio Berar's marketing manager, Lazar Josanov, was the continuous music—thanks to the deployment of the second â€˜No Break' stage. “Both stages were situated in the north-west corner of the hall, and close to each other, so that fans didn't need to turn round to follow performers on the adjacent stages,” he said. “An advantage of this was that some of the same equipment could be utilized for both stages.

Of the auxiliary stage, Josanov reports that production was thrilled with this new approach, which enabled the musical marathon to take place without a break. “On the main stage were the older, more famous bands and while they were changing over, young up-and-coming artists were reveling in their first 15 minutes of fame on the No Break stage,” he said. Major acts appearing included Partibrejkers, Sunshine, Eyesburn and Ritam Nereda.

Studio Berar's technicians, who also undertook necessary Vi6 induction, were main sound engineer Ivan Paplacko, while Zoran Matic supervised the No Break stage. “These are among the most experienced sound technicians in Serbia and we were delighted to have them in our team,” praised Lazar.

“As for the Soundcraft desks, they were fantastic; we have two Vi6s and take every opportunity to put them out on our shows. Ergonomically they are laid out with everything in front of the operator, and there is no need to look around when running the show. Using Soundcraft Vi6s, technicians have the mix right in the palm of their hand.”

From the desks they also supplied a MADI bridge to enable the entire event to be recorded on a Mack Audio recording station.

Summing up, Lazar Josanov described the event as a major success. “We had 1500 more visitors than last year and this was due to the efforts of the whole Studio Berar production team, the No Break stage and, of course, the very best HARMAN Professional sound reinforcement. It was unquestionably the best concert of the year in Serbia.”

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 12,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.8 billion for the twelve months ending September 30, 2011.